Our 10-month Master of Science program offers aspiring and experienced journalists the opportunity to study the skills, the art, and the ethics of journalism by reporting and writing stories that range from short news pieces to complex narrative features. Application Deadline: December 15, 2008
Our 9-month Master of Arts program is designed for experienced journalists and professionals with proven skills who would like to deepen their knowledge of journalism. Each student selects a major in one of four areas: arts & culture, business & economics, politics, or science and health. Application deadline: January 12, 2009
New Media components
All students receive new media training in the fall and spring semesters, including photo production, Web production, Audio, Video, and Flash.
Our students
We seek students who are skilled writers; curious about the world; interested in searching for the truth and writing about it; determined and resourceful; motivated to dedicate their careers to journalism, and who exhibit leadership potential.
Generous scholarships available: each year we offer approximately $4.4 million in fellowships and scholarships
Any questions, please contact:
Monica Burnette, Assistant Director, Admissions & Financial Aid
Email: mnb2124@columbia.edu
Phone: +1 212-854-6344
Website: http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/admissions
Apply now: http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/apply

https://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/advertisements/columbia_journalism_school_now_offering_generous_tuition_

Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is recruiting young journalists from around the world for its two-year master’s program in International Media Studies, which trains students in topics including media and development, journalism, communication science and media economics.

A limited number of full/partial scholarships are available to students from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Deadline is May 31, 2009.

The Master’s program is bilingual (German-English). Entering students are required to have a bachelor’s degree, more than one year of experience in media or a related field, and proof of their communication skills in both languages.

The degree is a joint effort of the University of Bonn, the Bonn Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, and Deutsche Welle.

https://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities/scholarships_available_for_master%E2%80%99s_progr

I am looking for video journalists to contribute stories to an international news website that will launch early next year. The per-story fee is very good, and there’s the opportunity to do more than one story on a single issue. We want contributors with a diverse array of skills, experiences and backgrounds who can help us show that there is more than one «truth» to issues. Our slogan is «It’s not about agreeing with everything you see; It’s about understanding where it comes from.»

We welcome good pitches from anyone throughout the world, but I’m specifically looking for video journalists in the following countries now:

Mexico
El Salvador
Philippines
France (Paris)
United States (Chicago, California, Texas)
Ireland
UK
Tajikistan
Moldova
China
Spain
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Kuwait
Ukraine
Sudan
Chad
China
Kenya

Please let me know if you would be interested in contributing, or if you can recommend other journalists in your region.

Thanks,

Emily Kopp
Reporter/Coordinator
The Video Journalism Movement
e-mail: ekopp@vjmovement.com
skype: ekopp-vjm
phone: +31 20 779 7738

The Video Journalism Movement

International journalists are encouraged to publicize threats to press freedom and track media freedom worldwide on Journalism.co.uk’s new Dipity page.

The Dipity page, called «International Journalism: media freedom around the world,» features a world map including a timeline with news and events related to freedom of the press.

Dipity users can manually update the page’s resources, but Journalism.co.uk will monitor it for any misuse. The page’s followers may receive Twitter updates when the timeline is updated.

To create a Dipity account, sign up at http://www.dipity.com/.

To find out more, visit http://www.journalism.co.uk/5/articles/533032.php

https://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities/online_resource_tracking_media_freedom_around_the

Reporters who work outside the protection of major news organizations are eligible to apply for the Fund for Investigative Journalism for grants to work on investigative journalism stories. Deadline: February 1, 2009.

Established by the late Philip M. Stern in 1969, the fund helps finance investigative pieces on corruption, malfeasance, incompetence, societal ills, and investigative media criticism. Grants range from US$500 to US$10,000.

Applicants must write a letter outlining the story idea, what he or she expects to prove, how this will be done, and sources to be used for the proof.

For application guidelines or more information, visit http://www.fij.org.

https://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities/grants_to_support_investigative_reporting_project

Mukhiddin Kabiri, a member of the Tajik Parliament’s lower chamber expressed concern over the publication of an open letter written by the Society of Tajikistani in Russia.

The letter was published in a recent issue of Jumkhuriyat, an official weekly of the Tajik government. The paper published a letter signed by Abdullo Davlatov, chairman of the Society of Tajikistani in Russia. The letter contained a number of other signatures belonging to the ethnic society’s activists. In his letter, Davlatov and his colleagues criticized the outcomes of Kabiri’s recent trip to Russia.

It should be noted that initially, the letter was published in a private newspaper SSSR, and later was reprinted by Jumkhuriyat.

Commenting on this to Radio Liberty and the Tajik state TV, Kabiri said that private newspapers are free to publish such letters; moreover, this is a manifestation of the freedom of speech. But he is alarmed by the fact of reprinting of the publication in the newspaper belonging to the government. In other words, such a publication is an expression of the government’s official opinion.

“It is worrisome that the government media outlets – instead of calling people for peace and accord – are sowing seeds of discord among different strata of the society, practicing instigation and disseminating libel”, — added Kabiri.

Kabiri is going to bring this issue to consideration of the Parliament. He also required the Parliament to evaluate the outcomes of his official trip to Russia.

Broadcast leaders and journalists will convene to discuss the “Media Impact, Influence and Integrity in Changing Times” at the Sixth Asia Media Summit, scheduled for May 25 to 27, 2009 in Macau, China.

The annual summit’s purpose is to gather broadcasting leaders from Asia and around the world to discuss the media’s role in society and its development. Participants will network, share business strategies, and address various challenges to the industry.

This year’s summit will cover a wide range of topics such as media recruitment, coverage of food and fuel prices, small media stations management, media in conflict zones and emerging democracies, as well as new media and the next generation, marketing and advertising strategies, and creating media literate citizens. The full program can be downloaded here.

The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), based in Malaysia, organizes the summit each year with several international partners and sponsors.

For more information, including visa information, or to download the registration form, visit http://www.aibd.org.my/conferences/ams/.

https://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities/registration_open_for_asia_media_summit_2009_1

IREX Europe is pleased to announce a newspaper feature article competition focusing on social affairs journalism with an emphasis on women’s and children’s rights.

The competition is part of the EC funded project «Mobilising the Media in Support of Women’s and Children’s Rights in Central Asia» implemented by IREX Europe in Partnership with the BBC World Service Trust, and local partners Eurasia Media Centre (Yekaterinburg, Russia), National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Dushanbe, Tajikistan), Bereke (Shymkent, Kazakhstan) and Osh Media Resource Centre (Kyrgyzstan). All journalists working in newspapers in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are eligible.

The production of materials will take place under the editorial guidance of BBC and IREX Europe experts. The participants of production workshops will enjoy full financial and logistical support from the Project. The winners in each country will go on a study tour abroad, while runners-up will receive valuable prizes. But in order to compete you have to first complete a distance learning “i-learn” programme on journalism.

If you want to join in you need to submit a short resume of information about yourself, stating name, place of work and contact details. This should be submitted to the Project e-mail: casianpro@elcat.kg. From these email applications the program will select those who can move on to the next stage and follow the “i-learn” training using the i-Learn system developed and run by the BBC. Only candidates who have completed the i-learn training will be able to take part in the production workshops. On i-learn course completion, successful candidates will be sent application forms for final selection.

Deadline for registration: 20th December 2008. The deadline for completion of on-line training: 10th January 2009.

For more information, you can call on + 996 312 324952 to talk to the Project Regional Media Co-ordinator, Gulnura Toralieva.

Flora GRAIONI

Program Manager — IREX Europe

53 rue de Saint-Cyr

69009 LYON

FRANCE

Tel and Fax: +33 (0)4 78 91 44 67

Mob: +33 (0)6 72 57 46 50

Website: www.europe.irex.org

SOCIAL AFFAIRS JOURNALISM COMPETITION BY IREX

A competition will award the best journalist materials on hypertension and obesity, published in Russian. Deadline: December 20.

International reporters from print and broadcast media outlets are invited to participate, though all materials must be submitted in Russian. Works must have been published between March 1 and December 20, 2008.

Prize winners will be announced at the annual Russian Press Ball in January, 2009. Award winners will receive a laptop, a digital camera and a digital recorder.

The contest is organized by the Russian Union of Journalists and the Russian Society on Hypertension with the goal to propagate a healthy way of living. The official sponsor is a Japanese-based A&D medical equipment company.

Information is available (in Russian) at http://www.ruj.ru/news_2008/080826-1.htm, http://www.and-rus.ru/ and http://www.gipertonik.ru/.

https://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities/competition_to_award_journalists_covering_hyperte

Persecution for telling truth, self-censorship, limited access to publicly important information, “forbidden grounds” – are in the list of troubles of the Tajik journalism. In 2008, these problems have become even more visible and palpable.

Such was the conclusion made by participants of the discussion on Media Sustainability Index (MSI) last Saturday, 6 December. The discussion was organized by International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). The MSI meetings have become traditional; they are convened annually, by the end of the year.

Among the “newly emerged troubles”, the Tajik media have received amendments to Tajikistan’s Criminal Code establishing responsibility for “defamation of public officials”. Besides that, law-makers decided to “equalize” the media with the Internet, i.e. from now on, everything published in online outlets will be considered as published in printing media.

The Tajik media have to resolve a great number of problems – lack of human resources and trained professionals, poor technical and logistical bases, especially in provinces, etc. – to get closer to the internationally acknowledged standards of journalism.

ABOUT IREX
IREX is an international nonprofit organization specializing in education, independent media, Internet development, and civil society programs in the United States, Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia. Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of $50 million and a staff of over 500 professionals worldwide. IREX and its partner IREX Europe deliver cross-cutting programs and consulting expertise in more than 50 countries.

NANSMIT